The distinction between desktop systems and laptop systems is
quickly blurring. Long gone are the days of old where buying a portable computer
meant a tremendous sacrifice in speed, not to mention screen size and keyboard
size. Notebooks today are a lot less bulky, incorporate larger screens and keyboards,
and are as fast as many current generation desktops.

It seems that every
generation of notebook computer further shrinks the gap between desktops and notebooks.
Features that used to be desktop only are quickly finding their way to laptops.
12.1" screens were replaced with 13.3" ones which were replaced by today's
15" panels that are almost as large as 17" desktop CRTs. Floppy disk
drives were replaced with CD-ROM drives which were replaced by today's DVD/CDR-W
drives. These advancements, along with improvements in battery life, video performance,
keyboard layout, and more, all combined to make today's desktop replacement notebooks
worthy of their name.

The processor technology of notebooks has also been
increasing at a healthy pace. Originally notebook processors were nothing more
than slower versions of their desktop counterparts. Now mobile processors are
their own branch of the processor product line, offering desktop speed with mobile
specific features such as dynamic underclocking and advanced powersaving features.

We
were recently given the opportunity to evaluate how Intel's latest stab at the
mobile market was by taking a look at WinBook's N4 notebook. At the heart of our
N4 lies the fastest speed Mobile Pentium 4-M to date, running at 1.8GHz. Does
the line between desktop and notebook system continue to be broken down or have
we hit a limit? Let's find out.